A Quick Way to Freeze Kale

I plant a lot of kale in my garden. But at this time of year I don’t seem to harvest it much. I’m focused on eating the hot weather vegetables I can’t get during the spring, summer and fall – tomatoes, eggplant, red peppers, melon and berries.

But come winter, I love to use kale in smoothies, soups, stews and stir fries. Unfortunately, by then my kale is usually standing dead in my garden from one too many below-20-degree nights.

Luckily, it’s super easy to freeze kale for use in winter meals. There’s virtually no prep involved!

Directions for freezing kale:

1. If you tend to have worms and insects in your kale it might be best to wash the leaves before processing.
2. Cut the leaves from the stems. Discard stems.
3. Chop the leaves into desired bite sized pieces.
4. If you don’t mind them freezing into one big chunk simply pack the leaves into freezer bags. (This is what I do.)
5. If you’d like the leaves to be loose and easily broken apart, spread them on a cookie sheet and pre-freeze them in the freezer for 60 minutes. Then pack into freezer bags.
6. The best place to store your frozen kale is in the chest freezer. It will last up to one year – unless you eat it all first!

Food preserving really doesn’t get much easier than that! I’ve used this method for several years now and it’s wonderful. I never buy kale from the grocery store in the winter.

Do you have a favorite food that is surprisingly easy to store over? Share it in the comments!

For more tips on preserving food without the hassle of canning, check out my book, Super Easy Food Preserving, in e-book or print.

I’m hosting a FREE 7 Day Challenge starting Sunday, August 23 and you’re invited. Make Your Garden Harvest Last All Year will help you get started preserving the harvest so you have a pantry full of mouth-watering vegetables to use in your recipes way beyond the gardening season. I focus on the quickest and easiest ways to preserve food – no canning involved!

Sign up here: http://www.creativevegetablegardener.com/challenge/